1946–47 Ashes series
The 1946–47 Ashes series consisted of five cricket Test matches, each of six days with five hours play each day and eight ball overs. Unlike pre-war Tests in Australia, matches were not timeless and played to a finish. It formed part of the MCC tour of Australia in 1946–47 and England played its matches outside the Tests in the name of the Marylebone Cricket Club. The England team was led by the veteran Wally Hammond and his vice-captain Norman Yardley with the strong batting line up of Len Hutton, Cyril Washbrook, Bill Edrich, Denis Compton and Joe Hardstaff, but a weak bowling attack that relied on pre-war bowlers like the 37-year-old Bill Voce of Bodyline fame and the mercurial leg-spinner Doug Wright. The two successes of the tour were the newly capped Alec Bedser, who would carry the England bowling attack until 1955, and Godfrey Evans who would be England's first choice wicketkeeper until 1959. England had drawn the Victory Tests 2–2 in 1945 and were thought to be equal in strength, but Hammond lost 3–0 to Don Bradman's Australian team which had only two other pre-war players – Lindsay Hassett and Sid Barnes, who had played 5 Tests between them – and was packed with fresh talent in the shape of Arthur Morris, Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Colin McCool, Ernie Toshack and Don Tallon. There were several controversial umpiring decisions which assumed greater significance as they favoured Australia and in particular Don Bradman. “Few seasons have created so much advance interest as 1946–47”, a tour had been planned for 1940–41, but this was cancelled due to the Second World War. The Australian Board of Control asked for a rapid resumption of Test cricket to revive the sport in Australia, which had not hosted a Test match since 1937. Their case was made in person by the Attorney-General of Australia Dr. H.V. Evatt and the Marylebone Cricket Club reluctantly agreed as it wanted to re-establish cricketing relations and needed money to rebuild cricket in post-war Britain. The MCC asked Hammond to lead a "Goodwill Tour" and he was told that good sportsmanship was more important than winning the series, which could be seriously contested later in the 1948 Ashes series. As a result, he looked on the tour as an extended holiday, a view not shared by Don Bradman, who was determined to win, and this led to a strained relationship between the two captains. The tour itself was a great success as crowds flocked to see the matches – more than in any series in Australia since – and it made a record £50,000 profit for the MCC. First Test – Brisbane | team2 = | score-team1-inns1 = 645| runs-team1-inns1 = D.G. Bradman (c) 187 Lindsay Hassett (vc) 128 C.L. McCool 95 K.R. Miller 79| wickets-team1-inns1 = Wright, D.V.P. 5/167 Edrich, W.J. 3/107| score-team2-inns1 = 141| runs-team2-inns1 = W.R. Hammond (c) 32| wickets-team2-inns1 = K.R. Miller 7/60 E.R.H. Toshack 3/17 D. Tallon (wk) 3 Ct| score-team2-inns2 = 172 (following on)| runs-team2-inns2 = Ikin, J.T. 32| wickets-team2-inns2 = E.R.H. Toshack 6/82 S.G. Barnes 3 Ct| result = won by an innings and 332 runs| venue = Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Australia| umpires = G.E. Borwick (AUS) & J.D. Scott (AUS)| motm = | report = Scorecard| rain = 2 December 1946| }} Second Test – Sydney | team2 = | score-team1-inns1 = 255| runs-team1-inns1 = Edrich, W.J. 79 Ikin, J.T. 60| wickets-team1-inns1 = I.W.G. Johnson 6/42 D. Tallon 4 Ct| score-team2-inns1 = 659/8 (dec)| runs-team2-inns1 = S.G. Barnes 234 D.G. Bradman (c) 234| wickets-team2-inns1 = Edrich, W.J. 3/79| score-team1-inns2 = 371| runs-team1-inns2 = Edrich, W.J. 119 Compton, D.C.S. 54| wickets-team1-inns2 = C.L. McCool 5/109| result = won by an innings and 33 runs| venue = Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia| umpires = G.E. Borwick (AUS) & J.D. Scott (AUS)| motm = | report = scorecard| rain = | }} Third Test – Melbourne | team2 = | score-team1-inns1 = 365| runs-team1-inns1 = C.L. McCool 104* D.G. Bradman 79| wickets-team1-inns1 = Edrich, W.J. 3/50 Bedser, A.V. 3/99| score-team2-inns1 = 351| runs-team2-inns1 = Edrich, W.J. 89 Washbrook, C. 62| wickets-team2-inns1 = B. Dooland 4/69| score-team1-inns2 = 536| runs-team1-inns2 = A.R. Morris 155 R.R. Lindwall 100 D. Tallon (wk) 92| wickets-team1-inns2 = N.W.D. Yardley (vc) 3/67 Wright, D.V.P. 3/131 Bedser, A.V. 3/176| score-team2-inns2 = 310/7| runs-team2-inns2 = Washbrook, C. 112 N.W.D. Yardley (vc) 53| wickets-team2-inns2 = K.R. Miller 2/41| result = Match drawn| venue = Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia| umpires = G.E. Borwick (AUS) & J.D. Scott (AUS)| motm = | report = scorecard| rain = | }} Fourth Test – Adelaide | team2 = | score-team1-inns1 = 460| runs-team1-inns1 = Compton, D.C.S. 147 Hutton, L 94 Hardstsaff, J. 67 Washbrook, C 65| wickets-team1-inns1 = R.R. Lindwall 4/52 B. Dooland 3/133| score-team2-inns1 = 487| runs-team2-inns1 = K.R. Miller 141* A.R. Morris 122 A.L. Hassett (vc) 78 I.W.G. Johnson 52| wickets-team2-inns1 = Bedser, A.V. 3/97 N.W.D. Yardley (vc) 3/101 Wright, D.V.P. 3/152| score-team1-inns2 = 340/8 (dec)| runs-team1-inns2 = Compton, D.C.S. 103* Hutton, L. 76| wickets-team1-inns2 = E.R.H. Toshack 4/76 D. Tallon 3 Ct| score-team2-inns2 = 215/1| runs-team2-inns2 = A.R. Morris 124* D.G. Bradman (c) 56*| wickets-team2-inns2 = N.W.D. Yardley (vc) 1/69| result = Match drawn| venue = Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, Australia| umpires = G.E. Borwick (AUS) & J.D. Scott (AUS)| motm = | report = scorecard| rain = | }} Fifth Test – Sydney | team2 = | score-team1-inns1 = 280| runs-team1-inns1 = Hutton, L |122* Edrich, W.J. 60| wickets-team1-inns1 = R.R. Lindwall 7/63| score-team2-inns1 = 253| runs-team2-inns1 = S.G. Barnes 71 A.R. Morris 57| wickets-team2-inns1 = Wright, D.V.P. 7/105| score-team1-inns2 = 186| runs-team1-inns2 = Compton, D.C.S. 76| wickets-team1-inns2 = C.L. McCool 5/44 D. Tallon 1 Ct and 3 St| score-team2-inns2 = 214/5| runs-team2-inns2 = D.G. Bradman 63| wickets-team2-inns2 = Bedser, A.V. 2/75 Wright, D.V.P. 2/93| result = won by 5 wickets| venue = Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney, Australia| umpires = G.E. Borwick (AUS) & J.D. Scott (AUS)| motm = | report = scorecard| rain = | }} 1946–47 Test Series Averages As was the convention of the time gentleman amateurs have their initials in front of their surname and professional players have their initials after their name, if used at all. Wally Hammond had been a professional until 1938 when his business interests allowed him to turn amateur, allowing him to captain England. Bill Edrich was a professional who became an amateur in 1947 and captain of Middlesex in 1950. The Australians were all amateurs until the Packer Revolution, even though they played like professionals. Of particular note is that Doug Wright was the biggest wicket-taker on either side with 23 wickets (43.04), but with a higher average than anyone else who has held this position. He was also the chief first–class wicket-taker of the 1946–47 season – 51 wickets (33.31) and bowled just over a third of England’s overs; 246.3 compared to 240.2 by Alec Bedser and 246.5 by the rest. Norman Yardley topped England’s bowling averages with 10 wickets (37.20) even though he had not bowled for Yorkshire in 1946, though he had taken 6/29 for the MCC against Cambridge University, coming on as the seventh bowler. Further reading * John Arlott, John Arlott's 100 Greatest Batsmen, MacDonald Queen Anne Press, 1986 * Peter Arnold, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Cricket, W. H. Smith, 1985 * Ashley Brown, The Pictorial History of Cricket, Bison, 1988 * Bill Frindall, The Wisden Book of Test Cricket 1877–1978, Wisden, 1979 * Tom Graveney and Norman Miller, The Ten Greatest Test Teams Sidgewick and Jackson, 1988 * Chris Harte, A History of Australian Cricket, Andre Deutsch, 1993 * Ray Robinson, On Top Down Under, Cassell, 1975 * E.W. Swanton (ed), Barclay's World of Cricket, Willow, 1986 1946-47 Category:International cricket competitions from 1945–46 to 1960 1946-47